1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stencil discharging apparatus in a rotary stencil printing machine which separates a stencil sheet from the printing drum beginning with its one end, and conveys the stencil sheet thus separated into a stencil discharging container.
2. Description of Related Art
A stencil discharging apparatus which removes a stencil sheet from a printing drum, and conveys the stencil sheet thus removed into a stencil discharging container has been filed by the present Applicant under Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 4-89385 (now Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application 5-254236). The stencil discharging apparatus is as shown in FIG. 11, and operates as follows: First, a printing stencil S is released from a clamping board 102. Under this condition, one end portion of the printing stencil thus released is separated from a printing drum 104 with a stencil separating claw 106 as the printing drum 104 turns. The one end portion thus separated is abutted against the lower surface of an endless belt 108 which is moved away from the printing drum 104, and therefore it is moved in the same direction. The one end portion thus moved is inserted between a pair of rollers 112 and 114, so that the stencil sheet is moved into a stencil disposal box 116.
The roller 112 serves as one of a pair of pulleys over which the endless belt 108 is laid. The endless belt 108 laid over a pulley 110 and the pulley 112, the pulley 110, and the rotary shaft of the pulley 110 are all pivotable about the rotary shaft 112a of the pulley 112. In a stencil discharging operation; that is, when it is required to remove a printing stencil from the printing drum, the pulley 110 is positioned adjacent to the printing drum 104 as shown in FIG. 11. In contrast, when it is not required to remove a printing stencil from the printing drum, the pulley 110 is pivoted upwardly about the shaft 112a, thus being positioned away from the printing drum 104.
With the above-described stencil discharging apparatus, the stencil S separated from the printing drum with the stencil separating claw is inserted between the rollers 112 and 114, and moved into the stencil disposal box 116. However, the stencil discharging apparatus suffers from the following problem: That is, a stencil sheet is sometimes curled depending on its nature, curling tendency, ambient temperature, ambient humidity, static electricity, etc. Especially when the stencil sheet is curled downwardly, the front end portion of the stencil sheet may enter the gap between the stencil separating claw and the printing drum, thus not reaching the pair of rollers. In this case, the stencil sheet cannot be moved into the stencil disposal box.